why do flower pot corals do this!

[Harold Edwards]

WHY!!!http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/100832MVC-005F__Custom_.JPG
It bubbles up and floats a little bit and the water flow slowly moves it off the rock, to the sand bed below.
Is it unhappy or what?

[Bcollins111900]

goniopora, it is on it's way out the door. No one knows why they do this. Kiss the coral goodbye, sorry for the loss.

[Bcollins111900]

Try replacing it with an alvepora, looks similar and it is easier to take care of.

[Harold Edwards]

what is going to happen next?

[Harold Edwards]

any one else?

[Bcollins111900]

The polyps will slowly receed into the skeleton, then the flesh will start to bubble from under neith, and eventualy fall off the skeleton. Bought a Goni as one of my first corals a long time ago, let's just say I learned me lesson.

[Harold Edwards]

sometimes it does this and sometimes it is fully open. why is that?

[Bcollins111900]

It is just part of the process. Mine did that and I thought it was getting better. Everytime the polyps will extend a little less until the point they don't extend at all. Beautiful corals, just better left in the wild.

[iantoh]

hi there harold,

not to disagree per with bcollins, but just to share my thoughts with you. i don't think the puffing up behaviour of your goniopora sp necessarily suggests ill health. it could very well be a physical response to available particulate matter that may be uptake by water absorbtion as opposed to direct tentacle capture. likewise, it could be a mode of excreting wastes, or simply a tentacle retration response from inverts or fish having agitated it by swimming past, etc

in my honest opinion, the swollen tissue of the goniopora hints at good health as opposed to bad health. they totally retreat into their skeletons in those situations. normally, when your gonio is fully extended, it seems as if just its elongated tentacles are extended, but if you notice carefully, its actual base tissue is also swollen, creating a swollen hemispherical shape from which the tentacles then extend out.

perhaps try feeding the colony more with particulate foods of appropriate size, like Reef Roids or DT's oyster eggs, and see if it responds? if it doesnt, perhaps relocate it to another location where flow is slightly higher?

hope that helps in one way or another. do let us know how your gonio comes along ya.

cheers,
ian

ps: thought maybe id share some pics of my former system with you- a gonio sp tank before i graduated and started work:

tank pic:http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/9403/gonioporapandoraensissmall4yj.jpg

a gonio columna sp i think, in full bloom so to say:
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/5968/gonioextended0wn.jpg

and once in a while when it feels like acting goofy it does this- not sure why it did:
http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/5679/messygonio3kr.jpg

these gonios were with me for about 2 years prior to my decommissioning that tank. no reef roids then, so i fed mashed mussel roe, crushed cyclopeeze and nannochloropsis sp. phyto daily. also cleaned my tank furiously each day and changed 10% water twice a week due to the high bioload

[Harold Edwards]

Thanks for the feedback.
I do feed cyclopeeze and phyto every other day.
I hear that the red goniopora are easer to keep than the green ones is that true?
I will try to move it to a different spot and see what it does. Thanks

[bluenassarius]

man those things have some serious polyp extension!!!

[Bcollins111900]

Iantoh's goni's are also of the red and blue variations. Red and Blue Goni's are proven to do better in captivity rather than the green one Harold has. Nice pics Iantoh. I would like to get one of the blue ones but I am still hesitant. A LFS and a sponsor here on RC has neon pink gonis in all the time along with true blue ones.

[iantoh]

hi there bcollins,

good day, and thanks. actually, the second and third pics are actually of a green tentacled goniopora columna colony. likewise, the large branching G. pandoraensis in the first pic has a green colouration as well, so i dont think the green coloured variety of gonios fare specifically worse than other coloured ones. also, the green varities, such as the common G. Stokesii are more abundant and correspondingly cheaper, that leads to them inhabiting more tanks after which there is a higher proportion of reefer accounts of their dismal adaptation to captive conditions, but all gonios are difficult i think. though i kept them doing ok for two years, im not sure that counts as a definite success though, considering they so often seem to do well for a long time, only to degenerate in a short period of time.

i think the crucial aspect to maintaining gonios is feeding them profusely, but also, making adequate water changes to ensure consistently good water conditions for them. i found that they reacted better to frequent feedings and frequent water changes as compared to frequent feedings and heavy skimming. lightings are important too, as they harbour zooxallanthae from which they gain some nutrition, though not in sufficient quantities to meet their carbon budget, hence the need to feed.

Jen&Kerry do great by their gonios too, so hopefully they'll chime in to your queries ya.

cheers,
ian

[Harold Edwards]

ok if this flower pot is dieing, will it foul my water in any way.
The reason I ask is my other corals have not been opening for the last two days. my parameters are, 46g bow front tank, sump fuge, Nitrate-0, nitrite-0, Ammonia-0, PH-8.0, Calcium-400, Alkalinity-3.5meq/L, mag-1325, 250w Mh lighting. what should I do?

[John Kelly]

Your flower pot is not dying. There is something else irritating your corals.

btw, if you are using 250w mh, down low would be the best place for it.

[justincognito]

Also you should look for flatworms on the polyps. This is pretty common with them and they often show that half shrunken look. Salifert faltworm exit will do the trick. DOn't do freshwater dips though. It won't kill the coral right away but it will screw it up long term.

[Harold Edwards]

Thanks john and Justin for the info.
I do have a worm on my flower pot here is a picture.

I had other people tell me it would be fine. It has been on there since I got the coral.http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/100832MVC-058F__Custom_.JPG

[Bcollins111900]

looks like a bristleworm

[justincognito]

These are a worm that i've seen with regularity on 3 Goniopora species, one of which is G. stokesi which it seems is in the picture. I'm most healthy specimens they do no great harm. But they can get out of hand. One eventually stayed out all time and constantly irritated the coral and it never put its polyps out. They often join the feast when you feed the coral.
If you're Goni's having trouble you may have to get rid of the worm. The worms is also a polychete so chances are if you leave any behind it will probably grow back. Sometimes you can just feed more and keep them both happy.

[BLANKENSHIP76]

Do goni's benefit from feeding reef chili, is it sufficient to supplement them? I ask, because I feed cyclopeeze(frozen), reef chili, and some liquid DT. This is all I feed the tank except 1 & 2 flake and some mysis. Will the goni get what it needs from these feedings?

[justincognito]

If you are not dierctly feeding the Goni it may no be getting enough. Sometimes just what's available in hte tank for them to catch is good enough. However if you definilty want them to live ffed them at least once a week. I usually feed mine 3-5 times a week if not everyday.

[ranran]

It could be puffing up to try and move itself to a better footing. I think they come from sandy bottom areas not reef walls.
You may want to move it to a flatter area on the rock or to the bottom of your tank.

Here is a pic of a couple of mine one is 6 months old green one is one year red with yellow center.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v349/ranran/reefshotsaugust06063.jpg

[Harold Edwards]

I moved it to the sand bed and it seams to be doing better. Thanks for all the help.

[koga57]

If you get it to live 12 months, you have done well. They do not have a good survival rate in captivity.

There is some research on this if you'll google it.

david

[iantoh]

lovely gonios ranran! especially the red with yellow centre colony- looks like youve done well by them. do tell us more bout your conditions for them? and if you feed?